Traders Buy Large Volume of Put Options on Cameco (NYSE:CCJ)

Cameco Co. (NYSE:CCJ - Get Free Report) TSE: CCO was the target of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock traders bought 28,210 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 942% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,706 put options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on CCJ. Glj Research upped their price objective on Cameco from $62.76 to $75.68 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on Cameco in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Cameco in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set an "outperform" rating and a $52.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Cameco in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Scotiabank reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Cameco in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $70.53.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Cameco in the 4th quarter worth $839,000. Sprott Inc. increased its stake in shares of Cameco by 44.5% in the 4th quarter. Sprott Inc. now owns 111,896 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $5,750,000 after acquiring an additional 34,483 shares during the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Cameco in the 4th quarter worth $930,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Cameco in the 4th quarter worth $360,000. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Cameco by 44.7% in the 4th quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 36,736 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,888,000 after acquiring an additional 11,340 shares during the last quarter. 70.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cameco Price Performance

NYSE CCJ traded up $1.53 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $59.71. The stock had a trading volume of 5,816,935 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,235,666. The firm's 50 day moving average is $46.91 and its 200 day moving average is $49.20. Cameco has a twelve month low of $35.00 and a twelve month high of $62.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.88 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 213.25 and a beta of 0.89.

Cameco (NYSE:CCJ - Get Free Report) TSE: CCO last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.18 by ($0.07). Cameco had a net margin of 5.39% and a return on equity of 4.34%. The firm had revenue of $549.58 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $890.07 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.13 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 24.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Cameco will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Cameco

Cameco Corporation provides uranium for the generation of electricity. It operates through Uranium, Fuel Services, Westinghouse segments. The Uranium segment is involved in the exploration for, mining, and milling, purchase, and sale of uranium concentrate. The Fuel Services segment engages in the refining, conversion, and fabrication of uranium concentrate, as well as the purchase and sale of conversion services.